It's happened again! I start a book series only to find out after the fact that it has another series woven into it. The list I found breaking down the reading order for this world is outrageous. I'm only three books into Mercy Thompson, and now I find out I should read three other books from a companion series before I continue?! And what is with all the short stories published in anthologies? Completely unnecessary, and do you really expect your readers to keep up with all that? At least show that these books take place in the same world in the bibliography, or mention it in the acknowledgments. 

I thought about just ignoring this series, but then I worried that I'll end up really liking the Mercy series and might regret skipping this side story for convenience's sake. This novella that starts the Alpha and Omega series was fine, but I think it's overshadowed by my annoyance that it exists.